Hampton Man Charged With Girlfriend's Assault

NEWPORT NEWS — A Hampton man accused of holding his girlfriend hostage at the blade of a butcher knife early Wednesday was arrested minutes after the incident.

Officers charged Darryn Ridley, 32, of the 2000 block of West Mercury Boulevard, with felony obstruction of justice, assault and battery and felony abduction. He was jailed without bond.

The incident occurred shortly before 6 a.m. at an apartment in the 1200 block of Garden Drive in Newport News. Police were called to the home to handle a domestic situation and heard a woman screaming inside the apartment, said Lt. Cliff Bowen.

After entering, police found a distraught man holding the woman around the neck. He had the knife to her throat, Bowen said. The man told police he was going to kill the woman, and then beckoned them to kill him, he said.

As officers were talking to the man, he walked the woman outside to a patio area. But the woman was able to get away from him as they were talking to officers, Bowen said.

The man ran back into the apartment, locked the door and escaped out the back. Police, however, arrested him as he returned to his Hampton home, Bowen said.

The woman was not injured.

The incident was the result of a dispute the couple had over their relationship, Bowen said.

- Kelli Caplan can be reached at 247-4738 or by e-mail at kcaplan@dailypress.com